Ortiz and Ancer are lifting Mexican golf to new heights
Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer lead five Mexicans into the Mayakoba Golf Classic.
As Carlos Ortiz chased his first PGA Tour title at the Vivint Houston Open last month, Abraham Ancer was preparing to play a practice round ahead of his first Masters.
“But I was like, ‘I’ve got to go watch my boy win this thing,’ ” Ancer said. “I’ve never been that nervous watching somebody else play. I was actually freaking out there a little bit.”
As Ortiz lined up the winning 20-foot putt, Ancer watched from the Augusta National locker room with U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and filmed the moment on his phone.
“I’m like, ‘Man, he’s going to win.’ Bryson’s like, ‘Don’t jinx him.’ I said, ‘I’m not going to jinx him, he’s going to make this putt,’ ” Ancer recounted during a news conference on the eve of the Mayakoba Golf Classic. “He hit that putt maybe a little bit harder than he would have thought or would have wanted, but it went dead center and I was fist pumping, I was so pumped.”
In doing so, Ortiz became the first player from Mexico to win a PGA Tour event in more than 40 years and just the third Mexican native ever, joining Cesar Sanudo, who won the 1970 Azalea Open Invitational, and Victor Regalado, who won twice at the 1974 Pleasant Valley Classic and 1978 Quad Cities Open. Afterward, it took Ortiz five days to respond to his well-wishers, which included Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez, Formula One driver Checo Perez, and its most-renowned golfer, World Golf Hall of Famer Lorena Ochoa, who set the bar high for Ortiz and all Mexican golfers with 27 LPGA Tour victories before she retired in 2010.
“She was on TV all the time, and in my case she definitely inspired me and helped me believe that working hard and doing things the right way, we’re able to achieve our goals,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz, 29, broke the long winless spell for Mexican golfers on the PGA Tour, but it likely won’t be long before Ancer or someone else follows in his footsteps. Ortiz and Ancer are leading a contingent of five Mexican golfers (and 11 Latin golfers in all) at this week’s Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Golf Club in Riviera Maya, south of Cancun.
Ancer, 29, was born in the United States but grew up in Reynoso, Mexico, and was introduced to the game by his father at the tender age of 2 or 3 at Club Campestre de Reynoso. Asked at Augusta National to describe his childhood course, he cracked, “It’s just like this.”
Ancer’s family crossed back to the border town of McAllen, Texas, so he could attend high school and pursue his dream of playing golf professionally. Ancer was named the 2010 Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the Junior College National Player of the Year and played at Oklahoma, where his coach, Ryan Hybl, nicknamed him “The Eraser,” for his penchant to bounce back from a bogey with a birdie. Ancer made the PGA Tour in 2015 but missed his first nine cuts and returned to the Korn Ferry Tour. He’s since found his stride, winning the 2018 Australian Open, becoming the first Mexican player to represent the International team for the Presidents Cup in 2019 and playing in the final group in his Masters debut before finishing T-13. Ancer enters this week No. 22 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“I think he’s been a great influence for the whole Mexican golf,” Ortiz said. “Even though we’re competing, I look up to him because he’s doing great things.”
Ortiz and Ancer likely will battle for the Premio Mexico trophy, which is awarded to the Mexican player with the best finish this week. Ortiz nearly won all the hardware last year, finishing tied for second behind Brendon Todd.
“Winning on your home soil would be a dream come true,” Ortiz said. “I think it’s coming.”